Vijay and Nila have only one thing in common - they take the same bus at the same time everyday. What if this mere commonality steers their life into a whirlpool of uninvited feelings, wholesome conversations and unexpected connections, taking them...
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"What do you think of Nila?"
Vijay could see Farah hiding a smile as she walked in front of him. He grabbed her bag and brought her to a halt. "Just say it to my face. Even if you don't like her," he told her. It would crush him to pieces if Nila and Farah didn't get along but at least he had to know.
"Because it won't affect how you see her?"
He wrapped an arm around her neck. "Of course not. I'll consider what you have to say. Don't act as if you've lost value since Nila is here."
She turned around. "I didn't even think that way. But this means that you have! Don't you dare try to replace me or even think of it. I'll hunt you down and make sure you learn your lesson."
"Jeez, Farah. You know I'll never do that. It's not how you've raised me," he said, grinning. Farah's eyes stayed narrowed for a moment longer before she shrugged off his arm and folded her arms across her chest.
"I'll tell you what I think of Nila. First, wipe that disgusting grin from your face. If every time I say her name, you smile like that, it's going to be a problem," she said. Vijay quickly schooled his expression into a curious one. "From the conversation I had with her, I think she's really sweet. You know, not that trying-really-hard-to-impress-his-friends kind of sweet but that's-how-I-am-take-it-or-leave-it sweet. To be honest, I thought you exaggerated her beauty because you are wearing your love-tinted glasses but she is so pretty. I mean, I get why you are obsessed. And I may or may not have caught her eyes being drawn to you like you were the only person in the entire mall."
Vijay beamed, his dimples out under the evening pink sunshine. There was also a matching blush on his cheeks.
"She seems mature, mature enough to handle an immature idiot like you. So you better treat her right," Farah said. "She is good for you, Vijay. Don't fuck it up, okay?"
"That's it? What did you talk about when we were gone? I know it was about me."
Farah feigned ignorance and turned around, continuing on her path to the parking area. "I don't know what you are talking about, Vijay."
"Don't lie!"
"Even if I did know, I can't tell you."
"Can't or won't?"
"Will it make a difference?"
Vijay sighed and walked alongside her with a sports drink in his hand. Every day, it was a ritual to walk her to the parking area every evening and reroute towards the bus stop. Farah tipped her chin towards the bottle in his hand. "Since when did you start drinking that? You don't usually buy that flavour."
Vijay shrugged. "I developed a taste for it."
Farah gave him a suspicious glance before getting in her car and speeding away.
